A Hobbit's Adventure
by Uhala42
Summary: Merry has a surprise for the others, but will this only lead to trouble?
1. Blindfolded

A Hobbit's Adventure

A corny name for a fanfic, I know, but, as Shakespeare so eloquently puts it, "what cannot be eschewed must be embraced." Right, so keep sending me reviews. I don't own Lord of the Rings.

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Blindfolded

Pippin was about up to his neck with Merry. He had had it with his friend's antics. It was all fine and dandy to go and explore the woods, but this was too much.

His short hobbit friend had stranded him, blindfolded, in the forest. Not alone, mind you. Frodo and Sam were sitting peacefully next to him, waiting for Merry's return. The mischievous hobbit had left them blindfolded, with only the "reassurance" that he would return with a surprise.

It had been at least an hour since he had left. Knowing him, he had probably taken a shortcut through farmer Cotton's field and been caught. Right now, he was probably nursing a few lashes and had totally forgotten about them.

Pippin was just about to remove the blindfold, when he heard a noise in the brush to the left of him.

"Merry? Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me! What did you think, that I'd be caught by farmer Cotton? Now keep your blindfolds on, this will only take a minute,,,"

Pippin heard Sam and Frodo stir beside him. Now that he knew that Merry had not abandoned them, his curiosity took control.

"What do you think he has, Frodo?"

"I don't know, Pippin. Do you think it's some kind of food?"

"I hate to interrupt, master Frodo, but whatever he has, I think it's something heavy."

The rustling in the leaves stopped directly in front of them. Sure enough, the three blindfolded hobbits heard something heavy drop to the ground in front of them. Then, they heard Merry sit down on the ground next to it.

"Well?" Pippin asked. "What is it?"

"Open your eyes and find out. I guarantee you, you'll love it."

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	2. Merry's Surprise

Merry's Surprise 

"Whatever it was, it wasn't worth the wait," Pippin said, as he took off his blindfold. "We would have done just as well to have..." Pippin trailed off as he saw what the wait had been for.

A large sack of wooden weapons sat on the ground in front of them. Each helmet, sword, spear, and shield was made to suit a hobbit. There were four of each.

"Merry," Frodo said, "where did you get all of these?"

"It's really quite simple, Frodo. Do you remember all of those times, every day for almost a year, when I sneaked off, and wouldn't tell you where I was going?"

"Yes, well, get on with it..."

"Well, I've spent those days in the woods, making these. There is a sword, shield, spear, and helmet for each of us. They are all hard and solid. We could have our own little skirmishes with all of these!"

Pippin reached forward and plucked a sword from the pile. Only then did he realize that each of the weapons had been hand-crafted.

"Wait, Merry. Do you mean to tell us that you missed an entire year of afternoon teas, just to make these for us to play with?"

"That's just what I mean to tell you, Pippin. It took me almost a month just to find the right wood for each, and another month after that to get all of the wood ready to be carved."

"That, I think," said Sam, "is perhaps the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me."

The four tweenaged hobbits spent the next hour hefting and testing their new weapons. Soon, a small sort of competition had begun amongst the small group. It was clear that Frodo was the best at defense with a shield. Merry and Pippin were equally matched with a sword, and Sam was easily the best spear-thrower.

Eventually, Merry called them all into a meeting. After they all had finished thanking him, each for the hundredth time, he told them about his other surprise.

"I have been working on these alone, to show you all that I had the grit to start and finish this project, but there is more that I want to make."

"What more could you want to make?" said Frodo. "It seems to me that there is scarce else a hobbit could ask for."

"What I want to make is armor. With all of these weapons, we could have some fun, but with armor..."

"Yes?" prodded Pippin.

"We could have tournaments and skirmishes without worrying about getting hurt. We could fight whenever we want, without any problem. All I need is your help in making this armor."

"I'm in," said Sam.

"Me, too!"

"And me!"

"Good," said Merry. "We'll start tomorrow."


End file.
